Day of Reconning
by Random Guise
Summary: Just in time for another look at the 1993 movie "Groundhog Day". Everyone familiar with the story knows how Phil Conners changed for the better. This short takes a look at how an OC was affected. I don't own the characters from the movie, and I don't own...wait a minute...


**A/N: Phil Conners learned from the people of Punxsutawney, and they learned from him in the 1993 movie "Groundhog Day".**

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Day of Reconning

"Father?" a voice called from far behind him.

Catholic priest Father Sean Lightford turned from his task of dusting the railing at the altar. A man, someone he didn't recall ever seeing before, stood just inside the entrance of the church's santuary. "Yes my son? Come on in, don't be afraid."

Phil Conners stepped a little further in. "I'm not afraid; I'm not even Catholic."

"Well that rules out a confession I imagine. Can I help you?"

"I don't know. I have a few questions and I wanted to ask someone who, eh, was religious" he asked as he studied the priest. Father Lightford was a man in his fifties, and although Phil didn't know it he had been the priest of the parish for over twenty years. Even at that, some of the congregation still considered him 'that young man of the cloth' only because they had been around when the pulpit had changed hands from the retiring Father Armstrong.

"Well my son, pretty much everyone is religious at some point. Maybe it's before they buy a lottery ticket, or after they've spent the night sowing wild oats; we all have our time when we consider Him. Do you want to use the confessional to talk?"

"Is it required?"

"Oh, mercy no! I just want to sit down; my left knee is giving me what for after being on it cleaning the place."

"The bench-thing here is fine, I don't mind."

"Ah, good - the pew it is." Lightford sat down with a small grunt and let out a breath. "That's better. I'm Father Lightford. You're not from around here, are you?"

"I'm from out of town; I came in...ah...yesterday, kinda."

"In for the festivities? Is this your first time?"

"No - you might say I've seen them a few times before."

"Lovely. Now, what questions have you got? I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I can always rephrase your question to sound like an answer and then come off looking like I know something" he said as he chuckled.

Phil grinned; this priest wasn't at all the kind of person he expected. "We'll see how it goes. There's only one God, right?"

Lightford sat back with that one. "I don't get _that_ one very often. You mean, not like the Greeks or the Romans with their shelves full of various gods?"

"I mean, I know there's God with a capital 'G'. But if I learned everything there was to learn, would that make me like one?"

"Wow, you sure know how to pick 'em! Firstly, you can't learn everything; it's not possible - only God can do that. But knowledge can give you strength, and if you combine it with wisdom it can be a powerful thing. Wisdom isn't the same thing as knowledge, no more that saying a banana in a fruit salad is the salad itself."

"A banana? You're talking fruit, padre."

"Sorry, I haven't eaten lunch yet but the principle still stands. Learning everything you can will NOT turn you into God, or even _a_ god. But I wouldn't want to go up against you in Trivial Pursuit!" This caused both to break into laughter, interrupted by the sound of a phone ringing through the open door of a study. "Oh, I'm sorry" Lightford said, looking at his watch "but I simply have to take this call from my bishop and I'm afraid it will take some time. Can you come back another day?"

"Another time, sure. I've got more questions, Father." The two men shook hands and Lightford hurried to get the phone while Phil made his way out into the parking lot.

...

Father Sean Lightford was standing on a chair, stretching to reach one of the stained-glass windows with a long duster. "Father Lightford?" a voice asked from behind him. He turned to see a man in a somewhat wrinkled overcoat standing in the center aisle.

"Yes? Do I know you?"

"We met once, but you probably don't remember me. My name is Phil, and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about life?"

Lightford stepped down from his chair and set the duster atop it before walking over to the visitor. "As long as it isn't about the game, I hope; my sister used to beat me playing Life every time and I vowed to never play it again after she moved away, thank God. Thank God for not playing the game I mean, not her moving away mind you" he said as he shook hands. "I'm usually done cleaning by now but it took me forever to find the duster; someone had stuck it into the hymnal rack on the back of a pew."

"Can we sit here on the pew?"

"The pew would be fine, I can rest my knee. So you have some questions, do you?"

"Yeah. If nothing else you can rephrase my question to sound like an answer and still sound impressive."

"We'll see how it goes" Lightford said, then paused oddly for a moment in thought before continuing. "Ask away!"

"Okay. I wrote a couple down because you're probably a busy man."

"With our budget I do have to handle most of the cleaning. And the repairs. And I deliver papers to make a little extra money. But right now I'm here so you picked a good day to come by."

"I had to come by today" Phil half-mumbled.

"How's that?"

"Nothing."

"Oh,okay. So, what's the first question?"

"Does God play practical jokes on people?"

Father Lightford was taken aback at the question. "Practical jokes? Hmmm, no...that doesn't describe Him at all. He has a sense of humor, and He isn't above using irony when necessary - but no, I wouldn't say He does."

"Well, I just had an idea that..."

...

"Excuse me Father, can I ask you some questions?" the man asked as he entered the foyer of the church. Father Sean Lightford stopped his digging through cabinets and straightened up. "Sure, since I'm a little put out at the moment. Why don't we sit on a pew where it's more comfortable?" He led Phil inside the sanctuary and over to a pew to sat down.

Before he sat down, Phil reached behind the pew and pulled out a duster with a telescoping handle. "Huh, I don't think that belongs there" he said as he handed the tool to Lightford. The priest looked questionably at the duster, and then at Phil. "Do I know you? You seem familiar."

"I work on the TV news out of Pittsburgh; that's probably why you think you know me. My name's Phil."

"I'm sorry, but I really don't watch TV. Are you doing a story?"

"No; these are questions that are personal."

"Funny thing about life," Lightford said as the questioning look returned to his face "it takes the oddest turns at times. Sometimes it seems...nevermind. So let's hear those questions."

"Well, here's a good one; if I know something bad is going to happen but it won't make any difference if I help or not, am I supposed to try?"

"And here I thought it was going to be an easy one" the priest chuckled. "Well, depending on your theological view..."

...

Father Sean Lightford searched everywhere for his duster. As he was rummaging through a cabinet, a strange sense of deja vu came over him and he paused; not able to shake the feeling, he had the urge to check the back of one of the pews and did so, seeing the duster inside the hymnal rack. Without understanding why, he left it and hurried over to a confessional booth and closed himself inside and watched. He was just starting to feel a little foolish when shortly after, a familiar-looking man appeared and looked around, calling for the priest by name.

Father Lightford held his breath. _He knew that man; his name was Bill. No, Phil_. He had come in yesterday when I was looking...

Looking for the duster. Just like today.

The man checked his watch and with a puzzled look checked the back of the pew and turned before leaving the church scratching his head. The priest stayed where he was, confused by this sudden knowledge. It was all familiar, eerily so. He opened the door of the confessional and slowly walked over to the back of a pew and looked in the hymnal rack. There was a duster sitting in it still, almost impossible to see unless you knew it was there.

His thoughts somewhat scattered, he picked up the duster and mindlessly went about the church, dusting bits here and there until he was interrupted by the phone ringing. Checking his pocket watch, he walked over to the phone and timidly answered it, only to have a conversation with the bishop of his dioceses which he was sure he had already had before. In fact, most of the events that day and into the evening repeated themselves. During his rounds he once spotted Phil from a distance and made sure to avoid the man, but ended up bumping into him anyway.

"Excuse me father, you _are_ the local priest?"

"Yes, I am."

"I came to the church this morning and you weren't there. I kind of thought you would be because I have some questions..."

"I'm sorry you came by for nothing, but something came up that made me unavailable."

Phil looked confused; there must be an occasional random element to the day. "Can I come by later?"

"Not today I'm afraid, but certainly tomorrow. It's best to catch me late in the morning before lunch."

"I usually do...I mean, I certainly will. See you soon."

"Have a great day."

"Yeah, like there's another kind" Phil said nonchalantly before walking away, leaving the priest to stare at the man. The priest returned to the church for prayer and meditation about the strange occurrences. Afterward, he decided that should the day repeat itself again he would do some investigation of his own.

...

The next day, Lightford paid attention to things he normally didn't notice. Being a man of schedule and ritual, most mornings were very similar; now everything out of his control was the same. Same bird singing in the tree, same man walking his dog as it found the same cat in the same bush, and the same near-miss on the street corner between the station wagon and the pickup truck.

For the first time in years, he attended the festivities for the unveiling of the groundhog, and watched as the man Phil was filmed giving a news report. The man didn't seem particularly happy or interested in his reporting, almost as if he were...distracted. The priest stuck around after the filming concluded, pretending to be part of the crowd when Phil approached him. "Excuse me, but I'm looking for the local priest."

Lightford remained calm and pretended ignorance. "Looking to get married? Not many pick this day to do it on; most wait until Valentine's Day."

"No, nothing like that. I'm doing some research and I thought you might be able to help."

"We all do research; it's called life" the priest said with a bit of irony; he needed to do some research too. "Come by the church this morning and we can talk for a bit."

"Thanks, I will. I haven't noticed you in the crowd before" Phil observed.

"No, I usually don't come out to these things; I get up early enough, but my routine keeps me busy until later in the day."

"Yeah, routines can really get to you over time" Phil grumbled. "Would eleven be okay?"

"Make it ten if you can. I've, ah, got some things to do near lunch."

"Know where a man can get a good fruit salad in this town?"

"Try the diner" Lightford said, trying to determine if Phil was mocking him or not. Probably not, but he didn't rule it out completely.

At eleven Phil was still in conversation with the priest when Lightford begged off any further talk because of pressing business. Phil said he understood and thanked the priest for his time. Shortly after he left, the phone rang in the office. Lightford started toward the phone, then said "Let him call back tomorrow" and laughed at his little joke. Donning a coat and a pair of sunglasses that had been left by somebody else in the sanctuary, he hurried out and started to follow Phil around town and observe his behavior with a little recon of the man.

This repeated for several days, until Phil stopped coming in to see Father Lightford. The priest still continued to follow him after the morning broadcast ritual, and he observed the man behave as if there were no consequences for his actions. The priest prayed for Phil in the evening, but the next day it was the same. Consorting with all manner of women, drinking, theft, and what really shook the priest was watching the man intentionally die several times. The third time he was nearby of course, and was asked by a witness to give the victim last rites. "It won't do any good" Sean uttered, then gasped at what he just said before issuing an apology to the shocked resident and fleeing.

So stunned was he that, when he went to bed that evening, he omitted saying his prayers before crawling under the covers. Awakening the next morning, he startled when he remembered what he hadn't done the night before. He sent about solemnly, and observed that nothing had changed; everything still happened the same. He went to the ceremony again, and found that Phil's dark mood had settled upon him as well. "If nothing changes, why deny myself of a little comfort?" he thought.

It was gradual, but one by one Sean Lightford tried the various temptations that so many of his congregation had struggled with over the years. He attempted to reason with himself that it was research, and that it gave him a better understanding of that which the people of his parish wrestled. To avoid any embarrassing sightings, he indulged his carnal desires in nearby towns in plain clothes. He knew there was no concern about becoming an alcoholic or catching a disease; every morning he was 'reborn' anew. Tattoos disappeared, shaved hair was regrown, missing money was back in the collection box, and hangovers never existed. He still woke up alone, but that was soon remedied after a short drive. With his new life consuming so much of his time, he never saw Phil's change of character or heard how eloquent his newscasts became.

And finally, after untold times reliving February Second, there arrived a day when a great snow came and it was February Third. That morning found the priest in a jail cell, sleeping off a drunk after getting into a fight over a woman in a backroom poker game. Upon awakening his torrent of vile language peeled paint off the wall.

Punxsutawney found a new priest later that week while Sean Lighford was institutionalized.

The End

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**A/N: I was thinking of getting ahead of the game and writing a few stories for upcoming holidays and after Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas I came to Groundhog Day. I figured, in many time-loop movies or episodes a character grows and becomes better (and better-liked) because of their experience - what if the opposite were to happen? For the record, Sean Lightford completed a rehab stint and now counsels relapsed parishioners; friends say that he seems to really understand the foibles and temptations of people much better now, almost as if he had some new insight.**

**Lastly, the title isn't misspelled; it's not supposed to be 'reckoning'. **


End file.
